The Bet
by Elena1995
Summary: Alice, Bella and Rosalie have made a bet. Who can score the most freebies? Alice, Rosalie are vampires, Bella is human. Please review
1. Chapter 1

The doorbell rang.

"Alice! How nice to see you! And Rosalie, too!" Charlie exclaimed.

"I'm sure Bella's told you - we're here for our shopping trip!" Alice chirped happily.

I grumbled to myself as I pulled on my jeans and socks. Why we absolutely _had _to go shopping was beyond me. I would have been perfectly content to mope around at home, waiting for Edward to come back form his hunting excursion. But Alice was Alice, and when she wanted something, it usually happened. Her excuse this time was that I needed a distraction.

"Coming!" I yelled down the stairs. Still muttering darkly, I stomped down to face them.

Charlie gave me a reproachful look when he saw me. "You know, Bells, you could be a little more cheerful to go with Alice and Rosalie. It's not every day you get to see the city."

"Yeah, well, you know." I glared at him. He knew how I felt about shopping, yet here he was, handing me over to Alice.

I walked straight past Alice and Rose, and tripped over the doorstop. Before I landed face-first in the cement, Alice caught my shoulder. "Seriously now, Bella. I know you'll enjoy this." She and Rosalie exchanged a smirk.

Fifteen minutes later, the silver Volvo pulled up in front of a big amphitheater.

"Um, Rose, I think you've driven us to the wrong place. This doesn't look like the mall..." I trailed off as I read the huge sign in front of the enclosure:

_Lions and Tigers and Bears... Oh My! - A Close Look at Hunting Styles_

I sighed. "This is supposed to make me forget about Edward being gone?"

"No, silly! It's to give you a tiny little look at the way Edward hunts! It was his idea." Alice finished smugly, knowing I wouldn't argue with that. Rosalie chuckled a bit as I contemplated my chances of escape.

"No way, Bella. I can see you trying to run off."

There went my chances.

We walked in, and picked some seats by the front.

The man started talking about the evolutionary history of lions, tigers, and bears.

"This is _dull._" Rosalie complained. "And I forgot my wallet."

Alice's eyes suddenly lit up, and she gave Rosalie a mischievous glance.

"There's the sales boy," she said, indicating the young guy walking a few rows behind us, carrying a box of popcorn, pretzels, and drinks. "Why don't you try to persuade him to give us something for free."

Rosalie considered it. "OK, girls. Watch and see how the master works."

She stood up and walked until she was directly in front of the boy. The poor guy took one look at her, and tripped over his own feet.

Rose sauntered towards him, resting her hands on the front of the box.

"Hey," she purred.

"H-h-h-hii!" he breathed.

"I seem to have forgotten my wallet at home. Do you think you could give me something ... free of charge?"

The guy gulped audibly. "The boss said..." He fell silent, contemplating Rosalie's golden eyes.

"The boss said...?" she prompted him.

He tried again. "The boss said...he said... he said no freebies!"

"Oh, that's just too bad! I guess I'll have to go hungry." She pulled out a devastated expression and looked directly into his grey-brown eyes.

He turned red, then white, then purple.

"No ... you can't ... that would be ... bad! That would be bad!" he gasped.

Rosalie nodded somberly.

"So bad! Here, have - have - what do you want?"

"A pretzel would be nice." Rosalie nodded wistfully at the pile of pretzels.

"A pretzel! Here's a pretzel!" The guy pulled out four pretzels and handed them to her reverentially. She took them, thanked him, and walked triumphantly to us.

"And that, girls, is how it's done."

"Bah!" Alice scoffed. "I think Bella and I could do better."

I shook my head at her vehemently.

"I propose a bet! A bet as to who can score the most stuff by the end of the night!" Alice smiled at me. I glowered back.

"We both know either you or Rose will win, Alice. So why don't I sit out?"

"I think you're underestimating your appeal, Bella." Alice sniffed. Rose nodded her agreement. "You're quite attractive, for a human, you know."

"We'll see," said Rosalie. I grimaced at her. _She _could be confident that she would do well.


	2. Chapter 2

Like most my dreams, this one was easily recognizable as that, a dream. It was obvious for three reasons. One, Edward wasn't with me. And Edward was always with me. Two, I was in the arena I had been in yesterday. Three, I was wearing Alice's idea of proper formalwear. Namely, a purple ballgown. So I was fairly certain it wasn't real life. Nevertheless, my palms were sweaty. My eyes flickered nervously from one side of the arena to the next. My heart beat a tattoo on my chest. I had a mission.

I tripped my way over to the man selling hotdogs.

"Ex-ex-excuse me, sir," I stuttered. "But, can you please give me something, something to eat? For free?" I peered hopefully at him, wishing he would just give me the food, and I could scramble out of the way.

The man glared at me. "And what makes you think I would give someone like _you_ anything to eat?" he spat.

"It-it's-it's for my friends! Over there!" I pointed to Alice, who was in a fairy costume, complete with wings. Rosalie lounged by her side, supported by stilts.

"Your friends?" The man's face was suddenly unreadable.

"Yes, sir. My friends." I was relieved at the non-violent course the conversation had taken.

Then the man's face turned red. "Your friends! You have no friends! They're only pretending! Bah!" He grew in size until he was roughly the same height as an elephant. I cringed away form him and whimpered.

Suddenly, Edward showed up. "Bella, are you all right?" A light pressure shook me gently. I slowly came to.

"Oh, Edward!" I cried, relieved. I crushed myself to his lips, trying to inhale as much of the smell as possible. "You came home! I was having the most awful dream - I'm so glad you woke me up!" I exclaimed between kisses.

"So how was _your _hunting trip?" he asked wryly.

"Alice and Rosalie made a bet with me." I muttered unwillingly, trying to shake off the dream.

"Oh? What about?"

"To try to see... who can get the most stuff."

Edward chuckled quietly, and pressed his cool lips to mine. "There's no competition."

"That's what I said! I mean, obviously Rosalie or Alice will win, so I don't see the point-"

He cut me off by placing a finger to my mouth. "You silly, gorgeous creature. I meant no competition for you!"

"Oh." That silenced me. "But don't you think, just maybe, that you see me just a little differently than anyone else? That you're a little biased?"

"You have no idea how desirable you are, do you? But if you want, I can guilt Alice out of it." Edward grinned at me.

"No, don't." I couldn't believe I actually felt bad for Alice. "She's only trying to do what she thinks is best for me." I sighed.

"I've got a suggestion. Why don't I come with you to the place where you are competing, and I'll tell you which are willing to be persuaded to relinquish their items?" Edward proposed.

"I think that's a great idea!" I enthused. Spending time with Edward, regardless of the whereabouts, was fine with me.

"It's settled, then." he said firmly.

"I can't wait to tell Alice." I said smugly, knowing her probably reaction.

A few hours later, Edward pulled up in front of his house.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked seriously. "I can get her to accept this alone, without you being involved."

"I think I can handle her. But thanks for the offer." I said teasingly.

As we walked in, a low growl echoed around the empty room. Edward smirked, knowing what Alice was thinking. She came downstairs with an expression to match the hiss.

"Bella, dear, why do I see you winning the bet with _help_?" she hissed.

Suddenly, I wasn't so sure I could handle her.

"Well, Alice, you see..." I trailed off. She glared at me.

"I know I'm not going to win any way, so there's no point in being upset! I only want -"

Alice unexpectedly giggled. "You might do better than you think, Bella. I've got a special place in mind for where this is going to go down..."

Edward laughed again. The sound of it's perfection momentarily distracted me, but I focused. "Edward, where are we going?"

"Where are _you_ going, Bella, love." he corrected me.

I was alone. Alone with a psychotic psychic and a beyond-beautiful vampire. In a bet.


End file.
